tag: free

If “Entrenched Walking” by Blevin Blectum seems like it could be an old Michael Jackson song — or something else of his era — played in reverse, the impression has some founding beyond the track’s sonics, beyond the mid-tempo gait that has the slipstream and blunted affect of audio that has been backward-masked, beyond the transitions between chorus and verse that are more sudden than the norm, beyond the funhouse-mirror of pop that the overall track suggests. While Blectum on SoundCloud simply annotated the piece as “from the ash heap of moderately ancient history,” an old Facebook post of hers fills in some blanks. The track was intended as part of something titled Silk Ears from Sows’ Purses, which as the name suggests was about turning something into something else, perhaps by way of improvement:

“these are things I made for friends out of their most / least favorite bad music ;)

“not sure where these will go / are going either. obviously, some copyright issues here…”

When the magazine The Wire included the track as part of a setlist back in June 2008, the audio was listed as “not yet released.” Blectum posted this to SoundCloud about six months ago.

Layers of vocal elements combine to form “As We Fall,” some of them hazy and textural, while others feature a restrained but formidable coloratura one might listen for in opera. The track, just over five minutes in length, moves through several phases, in a suite-like fashion, each punctuated with occasional pneumatic beats, chimes, and other percussive elements.

The track is by Lanx, who is based in Brooklyn, and who I believe is Christine Papania of the ensemble Pantree Owl.

Radio Free Ul-quoma is the somewhat imposing name under which Andrew Gladstone-Heighton of Gateshead, England, posts his material at his soundcloud.com account. Perhaps the “Ul-quoma” part is intended as a reference to Ul Qoma, the twin city of Besźel in China Miéville’s great novel The City & the City. Gladstone-Heighton’s most recently uploaded track, “Codeine,” is a rich, slow-motion wave of what appears to be guitar-based improvisation and tonal exploration. There is a foregrounded chordal guitar whorl, like Glenn Branca cooling down at home after a night of intense guitar-multitudes frenzy, or Lou Reed testing out a newly arrived effects pedal with dual the intent of clearing pigeons off the roof. Emanating from that rough noise is a sonic after-image, a combination of dense echoes and hazy feedback. It’s the heavy metal equivalent of chamber music, a fuzz etude.

AudioMo is a month long audio challenge, normally held in November. In 2013 just to spice things up it was held in July.

In 2014 and the future the month of AudioMo will be June. Yep June will be the home of AudioMo.

All you do is record audio every day during the month. Tweet the link to that audio and add #AudioMo hashtag.

Yep it really is that simple.

AudioMo started as an audio challenge for the month of November over 5 years ago. This site is the official source of all things AudioMo.

Thank you in advance if you are taking on the AudioMo challenge.

Among the participants is the SoundCloud member sklawlor, who has been uploading a series of daily drones, that latest of which is quite intense and engaging. Hovering and plaintive, it’s slow-moving yet rich with details and tension:

Track originally posted for free download at soundcloud.com/sklawlor. The name sklawlor is that of Scott Lawlor from Corinth (presumably in Mississippi), United States.

Larry Johnson has again done me the honor of reworking something I posted, in this case my ukulele-modular piece “Radiophonic Satie,” which he has extended into a stretched ambience of unearthly qualities. He calls it a “Halo Remix,” a choice that I interpret to mean he’s taken my project description at its word and made good on my intent. The note accompany my original piece explains how the ukulele is being treated by the modular synthesis in a manner intended to “introduce a varying, random range of sonic responses to — halos around, reflections of — the inbound signal.” Here’s what Johnson made of it. I found it quite lovely, at several times the length of the original, and marvel at how despite the aggressive attenuation key moments, such as the sonic lens flare at 2:34, are still recognizable:

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Current Activities

• October 13, 2016: This day marks the start of the 250th weekly Disquiet Junto project.
• November 16, 2016: I'll be sharing the mic at Adobe Books in San Francisco with my fellow 33 1/3 author Evie Nagy for an evening hosted, from 7pm to 10pm, by Marc Kate (facebook.com).
• December 1, 2016: A likely speaking engagement. Details to come.
• December 13, 2016: This day marks the 20th anniversary of Disquiet.com.
• January 5, 2017: This day marks the 5th anniversary of the Disquiet Junto.
• Ongoing: The Disquiet Junto series of weekly communal music projects explore constraints as a springboard for creativity and productivity. There is a new project each Thursday afternoon (California time), and it is due the following Monday at 11:59pm: disquiet.com/junto.
• My book on Aphex Twin's landmark 1994 album, Selected Ambient Works Vol. II, published as part of the 33 1/3 series, an imprint of Bloomsbury, is now in its second printing. It can be purchased at amazon.com, among other places.